I say this for two reasons. First, the book is a very important one: a dense, rich and extended discussion of Offa’s Dyke packed with new field observations. Professor John Blair (The Queen’s College, Oxford), writing in the journal Medieval Archaeology, says of the book:

Ray and Bapty make a compelling case that the Dyke was indeed Offa’s: coherent, sophisticated and purposeful. It was an impressive achievement for its time, and so is this book.

Second, and perhaps equally important, the book promises to foster a rejuvenation of research into Offa’s Dyke and other early medieval linear earthworks. It raises public awareness of the monument and identifies key future research avenues for its investigation, not only into the monument’s form and structure, but also its landscape placement and context.